I'm currently running my own personal experiment: immune system vs. exotic tropical virus. I was hoping my immune system would fare better than it has thus far. Yesterday I was lying on the bed with a hot washcloth over my face when I thought "wait, what's wrong with this picture? I could just go sit out on the balcony." Which I did, and it ( Read more... )

I was talking with Annie, one of the managers at the restaurant where I usually eat breakfast, and raving about the wonderful peaches here. Apparently, they come from Beijing. They're small, more like nectarines (no fuzz) with a very light taste. After lunch yesterday, I was sent off with a small travel box of peaches!

I'd love to get some small ( Read more... )

I have learned valuable lessons when it comes to taxicabs here. First, negotiate the price before you get into the cab. Luckily, there has always been someone with me to handle that part. Second, sit in the back. If there are several people in your group, do not let anyone give you the front passenger seat. This will make it easier to apply the ( Read more... )

Did I mention that every time I step out of the car, my glasses fog up?

Today I wore one of my new shirts. It's one of those intentionally wrinkled shirts that you twist into a ball and it comes out with wrinkles like mini pleats. A neat thing about it is that you can pack it fearlessly, and the wrinkles actually make it more fitted. Well, you know ( Read more... )

OK, today I was going over blueprints and a Cindy helped me translate every little note into English. After a very short time, it got tedious. To avoid having to label the fixtures in each of several identical rooms, I wrote "see Lab 1." I was really sick of the whole bit-- writing carefully in block letters on a vertical surface (paper taped to a ( Read more... )

Okay, after the last dinner description, I'm going to let you all down. I'm tired and feeling a wee bit homesick, so I'm hiding in my room and drinking black tea (Ceylon) with milk & sugar and eating some granola I brought along.

I'm enjoying work. I try to make the afternoon English sessions fun, but I end up feeling very drained at the end of the ( Read more... )

I thought I'd be losing weight on this trip, but not if I keep eating meals with my boss. For lunch, I ordered eggplant and mushrooms with dried scallops. When it arrived, it looked like a noodle dish, and I was very puzzled. Then Alex explained it to me: They're *mushrooms.* Golden needle mushrooms. They have really long thin stems that look like ( Read more... )

"Work mode" is entirely different here. I was thinking I might be setting up labs & writing protocols. So far I am proofreading and correcting blueprints in the morning and "teaching" English in the afternoon. Meaning my boss's daughter, Alex, and I sit around trying to get people to practice their English. I was trying to ask about a particular ( Read more... )

Good day today, but long. And hot ( Read more... )

I was very worried about spending a month and a half at the mercy of restaurants due to my fun & exciting food allergies. Well, as it turns out, so was my boss. So the two of us met with the chefs at the two main restaurants here at the hotel and went over everything in English and Chinese. It sounds like I'm in good hands in more than one sense:

1 ( Read more... )